Yes (McAlmont & Butler song)
| "Yes" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by McAlmont & Butler | ||||
| from the album The Sound Of... McAlmont & Butler | ||||
| Released | 15 May 1995 | |||
| Recorded | 1995 | |||
| Genre | Britpop, neo soul | |||
| Length | 4:53, 4:00 (edit) | |||
| Label | Hut | |||
| Songwriter(s) | David McAlmont & Bernard Butler | |||
| Producer(s) | Bernard Butler & Mike Hedges | |||
| McAlmont & Butler singles chronology | ||||
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"Yes" is the debut single by McAlmont & Butler, released on 15 May 1995 and later included on their debut album The Sound Of... McAlmont & Butler. It was their first UK hit, written and performed by the duo and peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart. It remains their most successful single, selling 140,000 copies in the UK. The song also charted in New Zealand, peaking at number 40 in July 1995. In 2014, NME ranked the song at number 174 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[1]
Background
Both McAlmont and Butler had departed from their previous bands in acrimonious circumstances shortly before the release - McAlmont from Thieves, Butler from Suede. The lyrics of the song were a thinly disguised attack on their former colleagues. In 2013 Bernard Butler spoke to NME about the song's genesis:
"It was the first piece of music I wrote after I left Suede. I wrote it as an instrumental. Everything was in place, but it didn't have the voice... Everything I'd done in the past six months had been really dark. I'd come out of a very sad situation and lost a lot of friends, so it was a very liberating song. I met David at the Jazz Café in Camden and said, 'I've got this song, do you want to try it out?' He came back to me two days later and sang the first verse. He had no second verse, so I just said 'Sing the first one again'... I wanted it to be like a great piece of '60s vinyl."[2]
Track listings
CD1
- "Yes" (Full Version) – 4:53
- "What's the Excuse This Time?" – 5:07
- "Disappointment" – 7:32
CD2
- "Yes" (Edit) – 4:00
- "Don't Call It Soul" – 3:57
- "How About You?" – 5:49
Charts
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[3] | 40 |
| Scotland (OCC)[4] | 5 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[5] | 8 |
Sales
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | — | 140,000[6] |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
- ^ Barker, Emily (31 January 2014). "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". NME. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "The 100 Greatest Britpop Songs". NME. London, England: IPC Media. 11 May 2013. p. 34.
- ^ "McAlmont & Butler – Yes". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ "Pop Gem #94: McAlmont & Butler - Yes". Official Charts Company. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
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